Unit Focus: Armiger Warglaives

The Armiger Warglaive is a new kind of Imperial Knight – a lightweight assault walker that combines the power of its larger cousins with frightening speed and flexibility. With Forgebane allowing you to get your hands on not one but two Armiger Warglaives, here’s why we think you’ll want to add them to your army.

The forces of the Imperial Knights employ all manner of vehicles in the pursuit of their quest to defend the Imperium – and while the Armiger class might be the lightest, each of these war machines is a deadly force in its own right.

Armigers hearken back to an ancient martial tradition – that of a mounted lord hunting with his loyal bondsmen. While the prey may have gotten deadlier, and the hunt fiercer, the principle is the same, with pairs of Armigers guarding the flanks of their larger kin and ranging ahead to slay any potential threats to their lord.

To pilot an Armiger is an honour, albeit one much less prestigious than piloting a fully fledged Knight. For this reason, Armiger pilots are drawn from the lesser nobility of a Knight world, from distant cousins of the ruling House to commoners and lowborn uplifted by virtue of their exceptional talent for war.

Armiger Warglaives represent a new kind of Imperial Knight, and allow Imperium players greater flexibility when choosing a Super-heavy for their army, as well as giving Imperial Knight players much greater flexibility when constructing their army.

While Armigers may be “small” by the standard of Imperial Knights, they’re still comparable in power to the mightiest war machines used by other armies, and thus, you’ll find them in the Lord of War slot. Unlike other Lords of War, you’ll be able to fit up to three Armigers in a single slot, making filling out a Super-heavy Detachment – and netting three Command Points – easy! We’d recommend pairing two with a fully fledged Imperial Knight for a balanced and powerful collection of units.

Armiger Warglaives are FAST – a 14″ move lets them to close in on enemy targets rapidly, allowing them to unleash hell with their devastating short-ranged weaponry. With Toughness 7, 12 Wounds, a 3+ Save and an ion shield to boot, they’re no slouches defensively, either. It’ll take some pretty dedicated anti-armour firepower to bring one down. We’d recommend taking full advantage of this by sending your Armiger Warglaives ahead of your force and forcing your enemy to deal with them, making space for the rest of your army to operate. Should they fail to take your Armiger Warglaives down – well, that’s where the fun begins…

Armiger Warglaives are built for one thing – hunting and destroying vehicles, monsters and any other large target foolish enough to get in their way. Key to this is the thermal spear, a melta weapon that boasts both terrifying range and damage.

With 30″ of range, you’ll be able to engage more dangerous foes from afar, while you’ll only need to get within 15″ of your opponents to capitalise on increased damage. Thanks to the Assault weapon type, you can close in rapidly without necessarily sacrificing firepower. There’s another reason you’ll want to get as close to the enemy as possible too – the deadly reaper chain-cleaver.

With four attacks at Strength 12, AP -3 and Damage 3, there’s little that can stand up to an assault from this brutal weapon, and it’ll be particularly potent against enemy heavy infantry as well as armoured units. Just watch out for hordes – you might find yourself bogged down when battling Ork Boyz, Hormagaunts and the like, as you lack the ability of the full-sized Imperial Knight to fall back and shoot with impunity.

You’ll be able to get your hands on a pair of Armiger Warglaives in Forgebane, as well as a contingent of Adeptus Mechanicus allies to field alongside them. You’ll find the Skitarii Rangers (or Vanguard, depending on how you build them) great for thinning down any larger units that could hold up your Armigers, while the Tech-Priest Dominus will keep them in the fight longer with invaluable battlefield repairs. Dedicate yours to the Questor Mechanicus, and you’ll even be able to use the Knight of the Cog Stratagem from Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus to provide them with access to the Canticles of the Omnissiah:

You’ll be able to pre-order Forgebane this weekend – while you wait, let us know how you’re going to use your Armiger Warglaives on the Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page.